Relocation (Knoxville, Johnson City, Kingsport: crime rates, living, utility costs)

[Nomad123]

After 18 years in the Army, traveling the world, I'm looking at relocating to TN when I retire in 2 years. I'm originally from the country in PA and my spouse is from the city in TX (Dallas/Ft Worth). She loves the mountains but hates the cold. I love the economy and housing prices in TX but hate the triple digit temps. and utility costs. Because of these facts we believe TN will provide a happy medium.

I've narrowed it down to either the Nashville or the Knoxville areas. My question is: Which of these two areas will provide the best economy (jobs) while still having low housing prices and lower crime rates? Or do I have to compromise on these areas of concern?

I did look at the Johnson City-Kingsport area, but believe the economy in that area probably doesn't match up to Nashville/Knoxville areas.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by Nomad123

After 18 years in the Army, traveling the world, I'm looking at relocating to TN when I retire in 2 years. I'm originally from the country in PA and my spouse is from the city in TX (Dallas/Ft Worth). She loves the mountains but hates the cold. I love the economy and housing prices in TX but hate the triple digit temps. and utility costs. Because of these facts we believe TN will provide a happy medium.

I've narrowed it down to either the Nashville or the Knoxville areas. My question is: Which of these two areas will provide the best economy (jobs) while still having low housing prices and lower crime rates? Or do I have to compromise on these areas of concern?

I did look at the Johnson City-Kingsport area, but believe the economy in that area probably doesn't match up to Nashville/Knoxville areas.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Do a city compare on the Sperlings Best Places website. Select "Compare" off of the homepage. Pick the state from the drop down menu, give it time to load the cities, then select your first city. Pick the second state and city in the same manner. It will compare them side by side and to the national average on things like cost of living, housing costs, weather, health issues, crime, voting, people and the economy. May I also suggest that you compare where you live now to each of those cities so you can get a feel for whether it is better/worse, more/less than what you are used to now.